Defense Dominates Day Eight

Shaun Dixon

08/11/2006

Usually early in the season, whether it be camp or the actual season, the defense is ahead of the offense. Entering Day Eight of Fall Camp 2006 it has been the opposite for the Cats as the offense has looked to be there better overall unit so far. It appears as though the defense had had enough of that as they flexed some serious muscles and showed the offense who was boss.

The defense was completely dominant on the night as the offense struggled to really get anything going at all. A lot of red zone work was done again and unlike last night, the defense was dominant and defiant.

All night long junior cornerback Antoine Cason was loud and leading. When he was in he was loud and when he was off the field he was even louder as he cheered on his young backup Devin Ross. The secondary did give up a touchdown pass from Tuitama to Mike Thomas but that was just about all the offense could muster.

One of the main reasons the Wildcat offense could get nothing going on the ground was the presence of Dane Krogstad. Dane was everywhere and was seemingly a one man wrecking crew against the run tonight. The entire linebacking corps looked very solid again but Krogstad was dominant from his SAM linebacker spot.

Up front Lionel Dotson continued to shine as he is quickly becoming a consistent disruptive force in the middle. The junior from Texas was everywhere against the run and especially against the pass. It is easy to tell that Dotson came to Arizona as a defensive end as he still has a knack for rushing the quarterback. Barnett again was solid in the middle and despite being without Louis Holmes, the entire defensive line flat out came to play tonight.

The secondary being dominant is nothing new and is also nothing unexpected. Between Cason and senior Michael Johnson it was hard for the receivers to get open all night and Tuitama was unable to find many seams to throw through.

On the offensive side the running backs ran hard but did not find many holes. Henry, who has yet to put the ball on the field this camp, had a decent night and showed more of the consistency that is needed from him. Xavier Smith was solid again as he tries to lock up the #2 spot behind Henry and ahead of a hard charging Chris Jennings.

The offensive line is still a patchwork unit and they had a bit of a tough night. The young guns getting their time to shine finally came back down to earth a little and made some mistakes. The young unit of Longacre, Borg, Britton, Wacholz and Kerley still looks to be the most well rounded and athletic group of linemen that Arizona has seen in many years.

Notes : The Wildcat will hold their second two-a-day tomorrow with the morning session being closed to both the media and the public. The evening session however will be a very controlled scrimmage that is open to everyone. The scrimmage is set for 6PM in Arizona Stadium.

Junior defensive end Louis Holmes had two teeth removed today and was allowed the day off.